It has been roughly a week since the Primary election has passed and I just got around to printing off the unofficial results (I hate unofficial … I mean aren’t we all 99.9% sure the winners int he unofficial tally will still be the winner in the official tally, erg, I digress).
The biggest shocker was George Welling thumping Dennis Steinman in the Republican race for Clerk. We’ve all heard that the percentage tally was somewhere around 62% to 38% and a total of 450 votes. What came as more of a surprise is that Mr. Steinman only carried one precint, the 12th precint (which is where he resides and only by 6 votes). I think in my earlier post, An Open Letter to Dennis Steinman, I made my thoughts on the matter clear enough; these are thoughts I am sure are shared by more than a majority of Township residents.
Some other thoughts on the Republican side of the Primary:
- Walt Wilburn ran unopposed for Supervisor and will do so again in November. I am largely okay with this as it seems to me that Mr. Wilburn has done an excellent job leading this Township; especially through the Steinman-Schockman debacle (of which has been determined to be a politically motivated attempted Crucifixion of Mr. Schockman). While the orange barrels have been quite annoying the improved roads are something I surely appreciate.
- Sherri Meyer also ran unopposed for Treasurer and like Mr. Wilburn will also run unopposed in November. This I am not largely okay with. Ms. Meyer decided to join the fray in the Steinman-Schockman debacle on the side of Steinman and further joined in on the finger-pointing and partisan political blaming of one individual for all the problems going on in Bedford. Furthermore, Ms. Meyer, sat on information that was used in Mr. Steinman’s allegations for over 3 years before it was ever made public. If this doesn’t scream of politics I don’t know. While I appreciate Ms. Meyer’s years of service to this Township and everything she has done for us I feel like it is time for her to go; it’s unfortunate that this won’t be the year.
- For the four spots up for the General Election in November for Trustee I don’t think there were any surprises in who moved on. In order of vote totals moving on to the November ballot are: Paul Francis, Rick Steiner, Nancy Tienvieri (former Township Clerk), and Tom Covrett. Arnold Jennings, a former Trustee himself, and political newcomer Aaron Wiens were left on the outside looking in.
- At this moment in time I am supporting Paul Francis and Rick Steiner but am keeping a very close eye on Tom Covrett and what he says he will have to offer. I could see, if Mr. Covrett makes a compelling argument for his inclusion on the board, Mr. Steiner falling off my list and being replaced with Mr. Covrett.
- I don’t think Aaron Weins has anything to hang his head about. A complete political newcomer whose ties to one of the Township’s least popular residents (see: Walmart, Whitman Ford land sale) probably hurt his stock in this election. Aaron found himself running against five individuals who gave serious name recognition in this Township and at age 26 he has a lot to look forward to.
On the Democrat side of the Primary there is far less to talk about. The Democrats offered no candidate for Supervisor or Treasurer (a big mistake), incumbent Clerk, Robert Schockman, ran unopposed for his third consecutive term (he’ll face off with George Welling in November), and with four sports available to make the ballot in November for Trustee only three individuals chose to run. My thoughts on the Democratic Primary:
- Robert Schockman garnered a total of 1,528 votes and impressive figure for a couple of reasons – One, there were several individuals who chose to vote in the Republican primary to help George Welling knock off Dennis Steinman in their race for Clerk. Two, with nobody running against Mr. Schockman undoubtedly several individuals placed no vote at all.
- A quick note on one of the aforementioned points. There was no organized movement by the Schockman campaign to convince their voters to switch to the Republican Primary and vote for George Welling. I can say this for one major reason … I work on the campaign (as a writer and volunteer) and this has never once been discussed. It was, however, discussed by many Schockman supporters not associated with the campaign. A very strong testament to the feelings towards Mr. Steinman’s political assault on Mr. Schokman.
- For Trustee each of the candidates will move on to run in November and in order of their Primary results they are: Gail Hauser-Hurley, Larry O’Dell, and Jim Goebel. Goebel didn’t say much in the Primary race and my guess is that is largely due to the fact that he could conserve money for the General Election knowing he’d be moving on (I believe Ms. Hauser-Hurley and Mr. O’Dell also used this strategy but we know more about them as elected officials to date).
- At present I am supporting Ms. Hauser-Hurley and Mr. Goebel for Trustee. Mr. O’Dell also joined in the political fray and I am of the frame of mind to eliminate those individuals from our board as soon as we can and that is November.
Ok, to recap my present endorsements (which are open to change as new information comes out from Trustee candidates … my other endorsements are set):
For Township Supervisor: Walt Wilburn
For Township Treasurer: any available write-in candidate
For Township Clerk: Robert Schockman
For Township Trustee: Paul Francis, Rick Steiner, Gail Hauser-Hurley, James Goebel (Tom Covrett is on the cusp of replacing Rick Steiner should he have some great ideas and an excellent vision).
So that pretty much sums up my thoughts on things as of this moment … care to share your thoughts Bedford?